Changeling
by Rumika
Summary: This is an original trainer fic that I wrote a long time ago, but am currently revamping and fixing up into something presentable. It stars Celeste, her little Eevee Eon, and their trials and tribulations. Please read and review, it's current!
1. Setting Off

Story 1 - Setting Off. (4-26-02)   
  
Celeste looked back over her shoulder as she left her school in Saffron City. She was 15 years old and had been attending school there since she was 10. After five years, Celeste was leaving the Educational Academy at Saffron and doing what every redblooded child her age was doing: training Pokemon.   
  
Celeste did not wish to become a Pokemon trainer, despite the ridicule this caused her in society. She chose instead to be an elementary school teacher, training children until they became of the age to start training and left for their own journies. This is what she had been learning at the Academy these past 5 years, everything about everything, and it made her happy as a clam. Celeste had no desire to become a Pokemon master at all.   
  
Celeste's parents did not like the fact that she was going to school rather than training pokemon. Why, it was their life, after all. They lived a happy life in Celadon City as scientists on the cutting edge of Eevee breeding and evolutions. In fact, it was they that had released the new Eevee into the wild that would evolve into Espeon and Umbreon. The fact that their daughter would not go out into the wild and train their creations devastated them, but they, being understanding parents, had sent her off to live in Saffron City and become a schoolteacher, supporting her the whole way. Celeste loved her parents for not judging her based on her decision. They were, all things considered, a very close, loving threesome.   
  
Last week, Celeste got a phonecall at school right after her modern languages class. It was Jenny of Celadon. Her parents lab had burned down. Her parents had been in it at the time. Celeste came back to Celadon in time for the funeral and the reading of the will. The will left everything to Celeste, but the fire had destroyed everything save for Celeste's possessions at Saffron, a small sum of money in the bank, and what was enclosed with the will: 14 pokeballs. The will read that her parents wished she'd put these pokemon they bred in the hands of an able trainer so their training legacy could live on.   
  
Celeste didn't linger long in Celadon, there was nothing for her there. She took the 14 Pokeballs and the money from the bank back to Saffron, gathered her possessions, withdrew from school, and was now looking back over her shoulder at her past. Noone could treat her parent's creations with more love and respect than she could, and she knew that she was the only person that would carry on her family's legacy. Tears ran down her face as she wished she had made the decision to train sooner so her parents wouldn't have had to deal with a social outcast and a daughter who went against the things they stood for.   
  
One of the things she kept at the academy was a pet Eevee named Eon that her parents had given her to remember them by when she first left for school. Eon had never battled before since she hadn't believed in that. Her other pokemon were enclosed in the 14 pokeballs in her backpack that held the 14 evolutions of Eevee that her parents had bred. Most weren't natural evolutions; they had been induced under labratory circumstances. When they came up with a way to evolve it, they'd release it to the public. So Celeste set out in the Pokemon training world with a pet, a packful of experimental pokemon, and a head ful of regrets about her parents.   
  
"Come on, Eon." Celeste said in her soft, melodic voice as she wiped the tears from her eyes and tore her gaze away from the Saffron Academy and looked at the road ahead.   
  
The Eevee followed close at her heel as she traveled down route 5. She didn't know where the road would take her, but she knew, in the end, it would take her to where she wanted to go: to be with her parents, finally living up to their dreams. 


	2. Traveling

Story 2 - Traveling. (4-27-02)   
  
"Well, here we go! There's so many aspects to being a Pokemon trainer. Catching, training, building up level... I just don't know where to start. Well, I know I really don't need any more Pokemon since I have all these Eevees, but I really do need to build up your level so I can fight and win in battles against other trainers, and maybe even a Gym leader!" Celeste exclaimed as she looked down at Eon.   
  
"Vii!" The Eevee replied as it gazed lovingly back up at her from its position near her feet.   
  
Celeste sighed. "You're no help. It's gonna be a long, boring journey if I don't have anyone to talk to. Eh, I'm sure I'll get used to it. Anyway, I was being very serious when I said I had no idea where to start at. We're heading toward Celadon City now, I wish not to linger there. I'm not sure where the best place to start is, really" She pondered as she pulled a Pokedex out of her pocket. It had been given to her for her 10th birthday, and she had always kept it although she hadn't had any use of it until now.   
  
She sat down on a rock in the grassy field and began paging through the screens of maps, trying to determine where she could find the weakest pokemon at so she could properly build up her Pokemon. After 10 or so minutes of studying while Eon chased stray leaves through the field, Celeste came to a conclusion.   
  
"Tell you what, Eon. It says here the best place to start is in Pallet Town by talking to Professor Oak, then building up your Pokemon on the Pidgies and Rattata on routes 1 and 2 on through Viridian City. It also says the beginner gym is in Pewter City, with Brock. Let's go to Viridian Forest and train there awhile, then see about taking on Brock. He uses rock type Pokemon, so we'll train Alpestreon and you, just to keep you as a staple to pull out in any situation, since you're the normal one."   
  
She reached down and touseled Eon's fur as she said the last part. Eon let out a little squeal and rolled over on its back. Celeste picked the stray strands of grass out of its fur, then gathered it in her arms. Eon looked up at Celeste and licked her cheek. Celeste giggled as she scratched the Eevee under the chin. She straightened the chain around its neck that had an Everstone charm on it, gave it a kiss on the forehead, then spoke again.   
  
"Well, I don't know about you, but I don't think we really have what it takes to get through Mount Moon yet. What do you say we hitch a ride on our flying type..."   
  
She consulted her Pokedex again, which had been upgraded by the Joy at the Pokecenter to include all her unique Eevelutions.   
  
"Zephyreon." She finished at last, drawing a pokeball from her pack and throwing it to the ground, revealing one of the experimental Eevees her parents had been working on.   
  
Eon, the Eevee she held in her arms, was a normal enough Eevee. It was about the size of a kitten, a white fluffy mane around its neck and chest that fell in large tufts, big, black eyes, narrow pointy ears, small paws with tiny black claws on its toes, and a fluffy tail nearly as big as it was with a white tip. Around its neck was an Everstone on a silver chain. The pokemon that appeared from the Pokeball was a different creature entirely. It stood about seven feet tall from its paws to the tips of its long ears, its back reaching about four and a half feet off the ground. Its fur was curly and cottony soft, and it was swirled with milk and grey colors. The mane of fur around its neck was very puffy, snow white, and soft as could be. Its tail was very fluffy too, about as big around as Celeste herself, it reached the ground and the tip was of the same color and texture as the mane. Its ears were more rounded and wide than Eon's, but still very long. It's eyes were sky blue, its paws were extremely large and had long black nails on its toes. Sprouting from its back was a large pair of white feathery wings roughly the same size as the Pokemon itself. Around its neck was a large link silver chain with a Quick Claw dangling from it. A whispered sigh came as its call from its lips as the red energy formed the magnificent Pokemon.   
  
"You know, you're quite something to look at, but looks can be decieving. I know you're as weak as a newborn baby, but training will take care of that. Perhaps I should train you in Viridian Forest along with Eon and Alpestreon, since flying has advantage over ground, which he will almost certainly have." Celeste said as she reached up to caress the big Pokemon's soft fur with the hand that wasn't cradling Eon. Zephyreon bent its head down and closed its eyes as Celeste's hands played with the curls adorning its face.   
  
Celeste walked around to its back and set Eon gently near Zephyreon's tail. She herself came about chin level with its back. The Pokemon crouched down to allow her to mount. Celeste, her legs hanging in front of its wings, held onto the mane around its neck, leaned up and whispered their destination in its ear. With a massive whirlwind caused by the beating of the great wings, the three forms took off from the sunny meadow up into the clear blue sky and made their way west to Viridian Forest. 


	3. An Encounter

Story 3 - An Encounter. (4-28-02)   
  
Zephyreon set its paws gently down on the soft soil of Viridian Forest's floor and ceased the beating of its massive wings. Rather than waiting for it to bend down, Celeste slid the distance from its back to the ground, Eon following suit. She gave Zephyreon one final thankyou pat on the head, then got out her Pokeball and called it back. Rather than putting it back in her backpack however, she clipped it to her belt, along with another pokeball she pulled out.   
  
"There we go, Eon. Now we're all ready to train! What should we do first? I know, why don't you run over there in the bushes and see if anything's nesting? Drive it out and we'll battle!" Celeste exclaimed as she hopped up and down, Eon doing the same before giving a little squeal as it ran into the brush off to the side of the road. Before long, Eon came tearing out of the bushes yipping close at the tail of a Caterpie. When they both made it into the clearing and instinctively faced each other, Celeste cheered and began the battle.   
  
"All right, Eon! Good work! Now, let's start off our extermination with a tackle attack!" She called, coming up and staning close behind Eon.   
  
Eon bared its teeth and began the charge at Caterpie. Caterpie easily sidestepped the attack, sending Eon charging into a tree. Celeste cringed as Eon peeled itself away from the tree, stumbling slightly as it got back into the ring of battle. As soon as it regained its footing and sense, Caterpie shot a string shot attack at it, immobilizing it. Celeste stared in disbelief at the trussed Pokemon, but had one last hope.   
  
"Eon, try blowing a sand attack! Then chew through the webbing and get back on your feet!" She called, slightly less enthusiastically than the first time.   
  
Unfortunately, before Eon had a chance to take a breath to blow dust at it, the Caterpie tackled it and took Eon out, then retreated back into the forest. Celeste ran to Eon's side and began peeling off the string shot with one hand and getting a potion out of her backpack with the other. She managed to get Eon back on its feet and restored everything except its pride.   
  
"Well, I guess this training business is a little harder than we thought. I always here stories about beginner trainers tearing through Viridian forest and wiping the floor with Brock, but of course everything has to be hard for us..." Celeste mused sadly, stroking the fur on Eevee's head. It mewed sadly as it laid its tiny body on the ground.   
  
"I guess we'll just have to train extra-hard before going to see Brock! Well, let's try out someone else and see how they do. This time though, we'll wander together until we get attacked by something, how does that sound?"   
  
Eon nodded its head in agreement, then jumped into Celeste's arms. Celeste stood up and walked off the beaten path in search of a battle opponent. Before long, she startled a Pidgey.   
  
"Excellent! Ok, we'll try someone new, just like I promised! Alpestreon, go!"   
  
Celeste threw her pokeball, and the red beam formed yet another labratory Pokemon. Alpestreon stood about 4 feet tall from the ground to the tip of its ears, but was much less awe-inspiring than Zephyreon had been. Its fur coat was composed of long green grass, very soft to touch. It's large, bushy tail was made of a golden-brown hay, with the tip covered with lily petals that overlapped each other like scales. The mane around it's neck was made of white lily petals as well. It had cuffs of brown thorns around its feet and spiraling up its legs, and the same thorns wrapped around its long pointed ears and the top of its head. Clustered around the base of its head were clumps of fragrant Victoria White Forget-Me-Nots. Around its neck on a silver chain was a poison seed, and its face bore the same round black eyes and tiny nose and mouth that all the Eeveeloutions had in common. It's head came up to Celeste's waist.   
  
When it materialized, Celeste became excited, not seeing any way it could lose. She got her pokedex out of her back pocket as Alpestreon positioned itself facing the Pidgey about four feet in front of it.   
  
"Here we go, Alpestreon! Teach it who's boss with a vine whip!"   
  
The vines around Alpestreon's legs unwound themselves from its legs and feet and lashed at the Pidgey. The Pidgey, looking very scratched but very much agitated, countered with a gust attack. Alpestreon had to brace itself against the high winds and subjected itself to cuts of its own from debris that was flying around due to the wind.   
  
"We're still in the game! Wrap it and squeeze!"   
  
Alpestreon did exactly as it was told, moving quickly up to the Pidgey's side and wrapping its thorny vines around the small bird. Pidgey struggled valiantly against the wrath of the vines, but to no avail. Just as Alpestreon was about to relinquish its grip, thinking that Pidgey had passed out, the bird struggled frantically with its feet, kicking up a sand attack. This distracted Alpestreon enough that the Pidgey wriggled free of the vines and flew away, very badly battered. Alpestreon began running after it, but the bird flew up into the treetops, far from its reach.   
  
Celeste stood and watched the bird fly away in disbelief. That was two battles her pokemon had failed to win. It looked as if it would be a hard road ahead. But she decided a few words of encouragement would be better for her poor Pokemon.   
  
"Good job Alpestreon! You'da beaten it if it hadn't flown away! A draw is better than a loss, right?" She consoled the poor Pokemon as she applied potion to its wounds. Its head came about waistlevel to her, and it licked her hand with a sad look in her eyes.   
  
"I'll tell you what, we'll just find another pokemon to beat, ok?" Celeste said as she put the cap back on her potion. She didn't have that much with her, she had suspected her special lab-bred pokemon would fare much better than they actually were. She'd have to stop soon at a Pokecenter rather than waste her precious, expensive supplies. As she was preparing to go back into the brush, a Butterfree fluttered across the clearing. Excitedly, Alpestreon stood below it and growled.   
  
"All right, another battle! Alpestreon, I choose you!"   
  
The Butterfree decended down to the level of Alpestreon, but before Celeste could even call out an attack, the Butterfree launched into a tackle attack. While Alpestreon was trying to regain its bearings, the Butterfree sprinkled stun spore on it, then flew off untouched into the forest.   
  
"Alpestreon! Are you OK?" Celeste cried as she ran over. The pokemon seemed to be in a great deal of pain, judging by the look in its eyes. Celeste didn't have any paralyz heal since she hadn't anticipated running into any stun spore in Viridian Forest, so rather than fixing it in the field, she sucked Alpestreon back into its pokeball, scooped up Eon in her arms, and ran through the forest to Viridian City's Pokemon Center.   
  
"Boy, we aren't starting off very well, Eon." She managed in between gasps of breaths. "At this rate we'll be eaten alive in this forest before any of you gain a level!" 


	4. Trouble

Story 4 - Trouble. (4-30-02)   
  
Celeste ran as fast as her legs could carry her through the thick foilage of Viridian forest, Eon close on her heels. In her arms was the fallen Alpestreon, victim of a stun spore. She was running as fast as she could to the Viridian Pokemon Center so they could save Alpestreon before the paralysis became permanent. Carrying the pokemon was extremely difficult, it weighed 90 pounds and she didn't know what would happen if her strength gave out. Luckily, fate intervened before this could happen.   
  
"Eon... we need... to go... much faster... Viridian... is still far away..." She gasped between breaths. Eon yipped an agreement as the tiny pokemon struggled to keep up with her.   
  
While running along the side of the heavily vegitated path, she ran through several clumps of thick grass. Unfortunately, obscured in one of these clumps of grass was a Pikachu, whose tail Celeste stepped on. The Pikachu squealed a high-pitched cry of protest, making Celeste stop in her tracks out of fear. She slowly turned around to see what had happened, but when all she saw was a Pikachu, she continued to run in the direction of the city, relieved it wasn't a larger, more dangerous pokemon.   
  
Pikachu watched the girl take one look at it and run. He misinterpreted this as fear, and wanting to throw its little weight around as much as possible, darted after Celeste, quickly catching up to and overtaking the panting girl. It stopped directly in front of her, blocking her immediate route of escape. It glared up at her, arms extended and fur raised.   
  
"I'm sorry little Pikachu, but I don't have time to play right now, my Pokemon is very sick. I'll come back soon!" Celeste panted out, not waiting for a reaction from the Pikachu before she vaulted over its head, Eon following suit, but landing on the Pikachu's tail, crushing it a second time.   
  
The Pikachu stared after them yet again, this time with tears in its tiny eyes. It finally understood that this girl hadn't been scared, but had thought nothing of the little Pikachu and had run away twice without considering it a worthy opponent for her Pokemon. The Pikachu's pride had been hurt, and it simply wouldn't settle for an escape. It sent up a loud call that echoed through the forest trees, and all over Pikachu poked their heads out of their nests, hearing the call of a fallen comerade that wanted revenge. They came to the spot where the crying Pikachu was, and after hearing its tale of woe, the large group of about 30 Pikachu set off at a run in the direction Celeste had gone.   
  
Celeste had been running for several minutes. Of course, heavy running for those who are not used to it has its consequences, as was proven by the sharp pain in her side and the weakness in her arms Celeste tried to ignore for the sake of Alpestreon. She was just about to stop to take a short break and try to ease Alpestreon's suffering with a potion when she found her path blocked yet again by the small Pikachu she had found earlier.   
  
"Please, I TOLD you I don't have time to play right now, Pikachu!" She replied weakly as she tried to catch her breath. She took a couple wobbly steps backwards to prepare to take another running leap over its head, but was stopped by a small noise behind her. She turned to look.   
  
There were dozens of pikachu blocking the path around her, and upon her noticing them they spread out in a circle around Celeste and her two pokemon. Celeste could see that this would escalate into a dangerous situation, and she also knew that Alpestreon didn't have much longer and that none of her pokemon were strong enough to fight off this many Pikachu.   
  
Celeste set Alpestreon's body gently on the ground at her feet next to Eon, then pulled a Pokeball out of her backpack. Zephyreon materialized, and she had it bend down so she could put both Eon and Alpestreon on its back. The Pikachu were closing in a tighter ring around the four of them, so Celeste spoke with an urgency in her voice.   
  
"Zephyreon, I know you can't run very fast and that you can't fly since we're in the middle of the forest, but your big enough to carry both of these two on your back and also big enough that most of the small Pokemon in this forest won't try to fight you. Run straight down this path as fast as you can, you'll get to Viridian City. As soon as you enter the city limits, there should be a Pokemon center there. Enter and make sure the Joy there gets the message that she is to heal all three of you. Once you're done, wait for me there, I promise I'll come. Now hurry before these Pikachu attack, just jump over their heads and run, I'll distract them." She whispered urgently as the big Pokemon bent its head down to listen.   
  
Once she had completed her instruction, Zephyreon quickly cleared the ring of Pokemon with a powerful jump and a quick beat of his wings. When the Pikachu started after them, Celeste quickly drew their attention back to herself with some incoherent yellings. Zephyreon glanced back over its shoulder and faltered a moment in its steps, wondering what she was going to do to outsmart the Pikachu.   
  
"Don't worry about me, don't look back! Just run, run as fast as you can! Alpestreon's life depends on it!" Celeste yelled harshly at Zephyreon.   
  
Hearing those words, Zephyreon took off at a slow canter, the quickest pace it could manage at its size and build. It could hear the chants of many Pikachu and some more incoherent yelling from Celeste, but it did what it was told and ran down the path as fast as it could. After about 10 minutes, Viridian Forest began to clear and some low buildings hinted at the city to come. Just as Celeste had suggested, Zephyreon burst into the Pokemon center and walked up to the somewhat shocked looking Joy behind the counter.   
  
"Oh! Those pokemon on your back need healed. This one looks in especially bad shape..." The Joy muttered, fingering some of the wilting Forget-Me-Nots that grew around Alpestreon's ears. "I'll take all three of you to the back right away! Do you have an owner?"   
  
Zephyreon nodded.   
  
"Are they joining you soon?"   
  
Again, Zephyreon nodded.   
  
Well, that's good. I'll have you and the small one fixed up in no time, you two just look exhausted. It'll take some time with this plant pokemon though. I've never seen anything like it or you!" Joy said with amazement as she opened up a small door that admitted Zephyreon to the back area with the two pokemon on its back. 


	5. Rescue

Story 5: Rescue. (5-5-02)   
  
After several hours in intensive care, Alpestreon had been detoxed from the stun spore by the Nurse Joy as Zephyreon and the bandaged Eon watched. The process had been a little more complex than a Paralyz Heal since the powder had been allowed to circulate through its system. Its blood had to be nearly replaced with donations from Eon, Zephyreon, and some Eevee blood that the Pokemon Center had laying around. Now that all three had been healed (Zephyreon just needed a nap and fed since it had only exerted itself by running, Eon needed some minor bandaging and rest as well from its battles and keeping up with Celeste all that time). However, they had all been bandaged and awake for at least two hours now, and there had been no sign of Celeste. Night was beginning to fall outside, and the Pokemon were very worried that their master was lost in the forest. Since the three Pokemon were drawing a crowd from the trainers that came in the center and Nurse Joy was visibly getting upset by the noise all these trainers were making over them, the three left for Viridian forest in the dusk that was quickly falling.   
  
Zephyreon walked off down the path that it had used to get out of the forest in the first place, carrying Eon and Alpestreon easily on its back. The path had been very faint during the day however, and at night Zephyreon was having extreme difficulty following it. It had help from the light shed by the occasional campfire made by the trainers that had decided to spend the night. The voices and laughter of these trainers echoed throughout the forest, and the three pokemon hoped that Celeste had simply decided to camp out for the night, maybe taking too long to avoid the Pikachu. However, when they listened, Celeste's voice was never among those calling out in the night.   
  
After about an hour of walking (Zephyreon was a very slow Pokemon when not in flight), the Pokemon had still not found their owner, and it was now stone dark and no trainer fires lit the path anymore. Moonlight could not penetrate the thick forest canopy, and the pokemon could not see the weak path in front of them anymore. They heard the noises made by the beedrill flying through the forest and hoped they would not be targeted. Eon dismounted from Zephyreon and began walking in front of the other two, squeaking so that Zephyreon could follow. Since it was the smallest, it could discern the difference between the hard-packed earth covered by grass in the narrow path and the underbrush that ran alongside the path.   
  
After about 20 minutes of follow the leader, Eon stepped on something cold and soft. It squeaked sharply and put a paw on Zephyreon's leg behind it, indicating a stop. Eon sniffed for several minutes but was unable to determine what it was. However, it could tell by its size that it blocked the path completely. Eon began patting the object cautiously with its paws, and when he realized that the object was an arm, a cold feeling sank in its heart as it began squeaking urgently and following the arm up to the human's head. Eon began liking the face and hair, and could tell by the features and texture of the hair that it was Celeste.   
  
Eon began crying out piteously, and Zephyreon and Alpestreon finally understood what was happening. Zephyreon bent its head down to Eon's cries and began to lick Celeste's face with its big, rough tounge. Alpestreon jumped off Zephyreon's back and set to licking her hand, all three trying in vein to wake Celeste. Eon, with a sudden idea, left her face to Zephyreon, jumped over her prone form, and began rooting through her backpack. After a few minutes of rummaging, it came out with the high-powered flashlight Celeste had packed for night excursions and turned it on to hit her body.   
  
After the Pokemon's eyes adjusted to the sudden illumination, they all three cried out in suprise. Celeste had clearly not escaped the wrath of the Pikachu. She was covered with scratches and bruises ranging from severe to minor. Her clothing had been sliced to ribbons, and her supplies had slid for the most part out of her backpack and her pokeballs had rolled all over the ground, something Eon had failed to realize during his earlier foraging. Her body was also stone cold, very pale, and covered with severe electrical burns. All this, and she still hadn't woken up from their gentle urgings.   
  
After the Pokemon took all this in, they realized the situation was extremely urgent. Alpestreon started gathering up all her supplies and putting them into what was left of her backpack, binding it together with vines. Eon was hunting down the Pokeballs in the light provided by the flashlight. Zephyreon was attempting to lift Celeste onto its back, but wasn't having much success. The only way it had to lift her that high was its mouth. It tried to lift her by her clothes, but there wasn't enough of them left to support her body in his mouth, they all ripped when it tried to lift her. It wished not to lift her by her body, since she already had several clearly-defined bite marks all over her body, but it really had no choice. It gently grabbed her around the waist, then as quickly as it could, swung her through the air and placed her gently on its back. By this time Alpestreon had gathered all her supplies and Eon had all 13 of her pokeballs lined up in a neat little row across the ground, all the Eevee-lutions accounted for. Eon put all the pokeballs in the pack save one and Alpestreon used its vines to swing the pack onto Zephyreon's back. It turned to Eon and nodded its head. Eon took the remaining pokeball up in its mouth and sucked Alpestreon back in since there was not enough room for both it and Celeste on Zephyreon's back. Zephyreon then bent its head down and Eon jumped on top of its head and bounded down to its back. It put the pokeball into the patched pack and rode on top of Celeste, holding onto her with all its tiny might as Zephyreon took off on its painfully slow pace through the forest.   
  
It took about a half hour to clear the forest again, and Zephyreon ran past the Pokecenter and into the city. The two Pokemon began searching the streets for the human hospital. After a frustrating 10 minutes, Eon spotted it hidden down a narrow alley off a side street, as far removed from things as it could possibly be.   
  
The large Zephyreon burst in through the front doors, startling the jaded-looking nurse at the counter. She regained her composure as Zephyreon approached the counter, it and Eon calling out desperately.   
  
"Now, you two know that we don't treat pokemon here. Why, I don't think they'll even treat wild, untrained pokemon at the Pokecenter, but you can try. Now run along, you'll scare the patients." The Nurse drolled slowly.   
  
Zephyreon became angry and desperate. It turned its back to the counter, and Eon began licking Celeste's face wildly, hoping the nurse would get the picture. The nurse got a horrified look on her face as she ran from behind the counter and took Celeste in her arms.   
  
"Oh no! It looks like she got ganged up on by the Pikachu in the forest! We have people walk in with electrical burns all the time, but this is the worst I've ever seen! I don't even know if she's still alive, her wrists are so swollen by burns I can't feel a vein! We'll begin working on her right away, but right now her chances don't look very good. Doctor, Doctor! We need you and a gurney out here RIGHT NOW!!!" The nurse said as she began checking Celeste over, yelling the last part hysterically.   
  
The two pokemon watched as the doctor came out and began exclaiming things over Celeste. He took off her backpack, put her on a gurney, and covered her with a blanket. He and the nurse quickly wheeled her back into the body of the hospital, leaving the two pokemon by themselves out in the deserted waiting area.   
  
Neither of the two did anything for several minutes. After awhile, Eon walked slowly across the white polished floor and grabbed Celeste's backpack. It drug it slowly over to Zephyreon. Zephyreon nosed through the contents, found its pokeball, and let itself in. Eon began to cry quietly, left all alone on the floor of the waiting room. 


	6. Recovery

Story 6: Recovery (5-7-02)   
  
Celeste opened her eyes to find herself laying on her back in a bed and staring at a white tile ceiling. She was a tad confused as to how she had gotten there. As far as she could remember, she had last remembered studying for an English class she had at the Educational Academy at Saffron. She tried to roll over on her side, but found the effort to move was very painful. A nurse by her bedside looked up from a chart she was reading beside Celeste's bed when she noticed the movement.   
  
"Hello, my name is Nurse Ruka. Your large pokemon and Eevee brought you in here last night, you were unconscious. You seem to have suffered from a severe Pikachu attack, your body had gone into shock after having so much electricity sent through it. Your also covered with multiple Pikachu bites, scratches, and electrical burns. We're going to have to keep you here a couple days for observation, but once we're sure the shock won't set back into your system, you will be free to go." Ruka said as she stood up and adressed Celeste formally.   
  
The memories of the recent events flooded Celeste's mind painfully. Her parent's deaths, her withdrawl from the Acadamey, her pokemon's inability to win against the weakest pokemon, and her Pikachu attack. Celeste began to cry as she realized she was currently failing as a trainer.   
  
Ruka was rather alarmed. "What's wrong? If your wounds hurt, we can always give you some more pain medication."   
  
"No, you've done well for me, thank you. A few days of rest are just what I need. All I ask now is that you leave me to myself for a bit while I collect my thoughts." Celeste said sadly.   
  
"I understand how you feel. I will leave you alone now." Nurse Ruka said as she stood and bowed to Celeste before walking out of the room and shutting the door.   
  
Celeste laid her head against the pillow and thought about her current situation. There really wasn't much she could do about it. Her parents were dead, and there really wasn't anything she could do with the 13 Eevee species they left, it wasn't like she could keep them happy at school. She couldn't even go BACK to the school until next year, since she had withdrawn. She was stuck with her weak pokemon, and there really wasn't anything she could do but train them. A tear ran down her eye as she thought of her parents and the journey that lay ahead of her to fulfill their dreams. She tried to roll over on her side again, determined that it would be more comfortable, but the pain stopped her yet again. She gave a hopeless sigh as she stared out at the beautiful afternoon through the window next to her bed.   
  
"Hey, what's the matter?" Celeste heard a small voice ask next to her bed. She turned her head to look and saw that she was sharing her room with a small pale boy with many IV wires in his arms. He had thin, fair blonde hair, blue eyes, and a concerned expression on his face.   
  
"Oh, nothing. It's just that I started training pokemon yesterday and I've already landed myself in the hospital and things don't seem to be going too well." Celeste said, reaching up to wipe the tears from her eyes so as not to alarm the small boy.   
  
The boy's eyes lit up at the mention of Pokemon. "Really? You train pokemon? That's so awesome! My mom says when I get better, I'm allowed to train Pokemon too since my 10th birthday was awhile ago. " The boy then got a perplexed look on his face. "Say, you sure don't look ten. How's come today's only your second day of Pokemon training? How's come you didn't start when you were 10, too?"   
  
"Well, my parent's wanted me to since they were Pokemon breeders, but I wanted to be a teacher instead, so I did that up until a couple weeks ago." Celeste said, figuring this kid didn't need to know the sob story behind it.   
  
"A teacher?" The little boy made a face. "Don't you like training pokemon MUCH better than learning?"   
  
"I'll tell ya, kid. Learning never put me in the hospital before."   
  
"How'd you get hurt, anyway?" The boy asked, propping himself up on one elbow to listen to her story.   
  
"Well, I was out training my Pokemon in Viridian Forest, and they were kinda losing and one got paralyzed, and when I was running to the Pokecenter I ran into some Pikachu, so I sent my Pokemon ahead to the center and stayed to recieve the Pikachu attack."   
  
"Wow! You took a buncha Pikachu shocks for your Pokemon? You should be proud, not sad, to be in the hospital, your Pokemon would be dead by now if you'd have let them fight a bunch of Pikachu when they weren't winning against the other Pokemon in the forest! I wish more trainers did that, you hear a lot more stories of Pokemon abuse and overwork than you do trainers taking the blow for their Pokemon."   
  
This made Celeste feel slightly better. Ignoring the pain, she propped herself up on one elbow as well to put herself with the same level with the boy. She continued the conversation with the charming youth.   
  
"So kid, you never told me what YOU were in for."   
  
"I don't really know. My stomach always hurts, and the doctors will only talk to my Mom. She says it's just my body can't handle certain foods, but they take me to the hospital a lot and I need to go through this big machine and have all sorts of stuff put into me with these tubes," He illustrated by holding up one of his IV-riddled arms, "I must have some really severe allergies, huh?" The child said with a perfect level tone and not a hint of fear in his voice.   
  
"Wow, kid. You're a lot braver than I. I wouldn't be able to handle this on a regular basis." Celeste said with awe in her voice.   
  
"It's nothing, I've been doing it as far back as I can remember, so it really doesn't bother me anymore."   
  
"Say, you never told me your name, little boy."   
  
"Hey, I'm not that much littler than you. Besides, you never told me yours, either."   
  
"I'm Celeste. Now fair's fair, tell me yours."   
  
"Ken. My name's Ken."   
  
"Well Ken, it's a pleasure." Celeste tried to extend her arm out to the boy, but it caused her too much pain. She laid back down in the bed, fatigue suddenly washing over her as the severe pain subsided.   
  
"Well, I get the gesture. Nice to meet you too, Celeste. That's such a pretty name, I've never heard it before. Sorry to have worn you out."   
  
"No problem. I'll sleep for a bit, then see if my Pokemon are out there. The nurse said they're the ones that brought me here, so maybe you'll meet Eon."   
  
"Eon? What kind's that?"   
  
"Eon's my pet Eevee. It's been with me for 5 years, but it hadn't fought until yesterday. It's got a LONG way to go."   
  
"Ok, I'd love to meet your Eevee. Just remember that when you wake up!"   
  
"No problem." Celeste mumbled as she closed her eyes and let sleep tug at her consciousness.   
  
She was vaguely aware of a nurse coming in and scolding Ken for waking me and overexerting himself before she drifted off. She had a vague thought that it was strange of the nurse to scold him for sitting up and talking, but she didn't have time to consider it for long before she fell asleep.   
  
She woke up with the early morning sun in her face. Eon was sitting next to her in a chair with her pack, watching her with eager eyes. When it saw that she was awake, it squeaked happily and jumped into her arms.   
  
"Eon! I'm so happy you're OK! Did you all three make it to the Pokecenter in time? Is Alpestreon all right?" She asked, looking into the blissful Eevee's eyes.   
  
"Vii!" It squeaked while nodding its head.   
  
Celeste squeezed it hard again, covering it with kisses and praises for a few minutes while both cleared their fears of the other's injuries. Celeste set the Eevee in her lap and sat up, her injuries feeling significantly better.   
  
"How long have I been here? Did I sleep a day? Can I get out after tommorrow?" She fired questions at the Eevee, it nodding its head in response to each of her inquiries. She sighed happily.   
  
"I'm so glad we can go back out after tommorrow! I'm ready to start training again, no matter what! Say, I want you to meet this boy over here, he really lifted my spirits yesterday when I was a little upset about us losing. His name's Ken. Hey Ken!" She turned and called to the next bed, suprised to find a curtain drawn. "My Eevee's here, didn't you want to meet it?"   
  
There was no response from the curtain on the other side. Undaunted, Celeste sent Eon to pull the curtain aside and suprise Ken. However, when Eon pulled the curtain away, Celeste was horrified at what she saw. The little boy was laying on his side almost as white as the sheets he was laying on. He was wired to several more IVs and what appeared to be a heart monitor and several other machines to monitor his bodily functions. The boy seemed comatose. Celeste had the Eevee draw the curtain again, not wanting to look upon the poor little boy. Celeste and Eon spent the next several hours taking inventory of their supplies and making a list of stuff to buy in Viridian before setting back out into the forest. They also laid out an optimistic training scheduele to stick by for the coming weeks. While doing the scheduele, a nurse walked in to check on Ken in the next bed. While she was behind the curtain, Celeste began asking her questions.   
  
"Excuse me, ma'am? What happened to Ken between yesterday and today? He and I were having a lively conversation, he cheered me up significantly yesterday!" She asked with a note of concern in her voice.   
  
"Well, he shouldn't have been up talking after his treatment yesterday, regardless of how he felt. He knows better than that, and this time he should remember. His system can't take any kind of stress at those times." The nurse answered patiently.   
  
Celeste thought of a careful way of phrasing her next question. "If you don't mind me asking, what is his condition? He really couldn't tell me anything past a severe food allergy yesterday, but it sounded a little more serious than a simple food allergy."   
  
"That is confidential information, restricted to his parents and the treating staff." The nurse answered rudely. "I will answer no further questions about this boy, please allow me to finish my assessments."   
  
Celeste stuck her tongue out at the curtain and returned to her Pokedex, laying out her plans and wondering when poor Ken would wake up. Ruka came in a while later to take her temperature and blood pressure and to change her dressings. Her burns were healing well and it looked as if Celeste would be let out the day after next, much to her delight. Ruka also brought her a meal, which she shared with Eon. After the two were finished and the tray put aside. The two watched a TV Ruka had put at the foot of her bed until the next meal, hoping that Ken would wake up. He never did, but the nurse's visits to his bedside became more and more frequent. Celeste ate dinner with Eon and studied her Pokedex, still hoping Ken would wake up. She gave up on him after awhile and decided to sleep, the sun having set long ago in a blaze of color that could be seen through the window.   
  
Through the night, Celeste was awakened once by a group of doctors and nurses that had rushed into the room after several of Ken's monitors had begun making alarming noises. They quickly wheeled his bed out of the room. Celeste sat up and stared after them for awhile, wondering what could be wrong with the small, frail boy. She said a quick prayer for him before she returned to sleep, Eon tucked under one arm.   
  
The next day she woke up and found the other side of the room vacant. She watched the sun rise silently with Eon, who was still half asleep. Ruka wheeled the breakfast tray in and began taking Celeste's vitals. Celeste decided to try her luck questioning Ruka about Ken's health.   
  
"I was just curoius, what happened to the little boy that used to be in this room?" Asked Celeste, hoping to not get the rude response she had recieved from the other nurse.   
  
"Oh, it's so sad. He died last night , there was nothing the doctors could do for him. His systems began to crash and the doctors had to try to perform emergency surgery, but it didn't help the poor boy. He sure was a sweet kid, a real fighter to be alive as long as he was."   
  
Celeste felt a pang in her heart and tears sprang into her eyes. "What was wrong with him?" Celeste asked more boldly now, not fearing the wrath of a nurse.   
  
"The poor boy, he had pancreatic cancer forever. He had to keep coming here for treatments and emergencies. His mother knew this would probably be one of his last visits, he was getting into advanced stages. Yesterday was one of the most active days the boy has had in a long time, I heard he sat up and had a lively conversation with you for a while. He hasn't been able to do that in AGES. We all thought that treatment might have worked for him maybe, but it was just his body's last little burst of energy before giving up entirely. Poor boy."   
  
Celeste couldn't eat any meals that day. She wept openly in front of Ruka, who tried to comfort her. After Ruka left, Celeste cried into Eon. That boy had no idea what was going on with him. His mother had lied to him about his condition and had even told him he would one day be a Pokemon trainer. Celeste swore then and there that she would never lie to anyone about their chances of survival, and wished that noone would lie to her about her medical condition like that.   
  
Her wounds didn't really hurt that badly anymore, but that physical pain was replaced with a mental anguish for the boy who had no idea he was going to die. Celeste's heart ached when she thought of all the things the boy might have liked to do before he died. She got even more upset when she realized she wouldn't be able to keep her promise of letting him see Eon. That day she was allowed out of bed and into other areas of the hospital, but she simply moped around with Eon in her arms, avoiding conversation with everyone. She went to bed that night with much difficulty in falling asleep, wondering why it was her misfortune to only be able to witness death and suffering lately. She pondered long into the night, but came up with a resolution that finally let her sleep.   
  
The next day, she dressed, shouldered the new pack that Eon had procured for her, counted all her Pokeballs to be sure that everyone was present and accounted for, checked out of the hospital, and set off to the Pokemart with a new resolution in her heart.   
  
Now not only would she train for her parent's dream, she would train also for the little boy who thought he was going to be a Pokemon trainer, but was lied to and had to die instead. The brave little boy who thought nothing of going to the hospital and going through cancer treatment, even though he had no idea what it was. The little boy who admired her for taking the blow for others and told her that standing up for weak pokemon was never something to be sad about. She did it for Ken now, too.   
  
The last person on her mind when she sat out that morning was herself. 


	7. Meeting

Story 7: Meeting. (5-12-02)   
  
A bell tinkled as Celeste opened the doors of the Viridian Pokemart with her free hand, Eon cradled with her other arm. The store was rather small, only holding two or three aisles of goods, but it had it's own quaintness about it that made Celeste feel at home. There was only one other trainer and the shopkeeper in the store, so Celeste felt free to peruse the merchandise and pick out what she wanted. She walked up to the first row, set Eon down, grabbed a basket, and began shopping.   
  
Celeste knew she had a somewhat limited budget, and while she did enjoy the free medical care for her and her Pokemon, she didn't really want to resort to those extremes again, so she decided to stock up on medical supplies for her Pokemon. She filled her basket with several potions to suppliment the supply she already had, as well as a fix for every forseeable status ailment she could think of her Pokemon getting, including Antidote, Paralyz Heal, Awakening, and Burn Heal. There were a couple items absent that she wished she could buy, including a heal for freeze and some suppliments like Iron and Calcium to build up her Pokemon's poor stats, but she supposed she would have to wait until she reached a larger city to buy them.   
  
During her shopping outing, she noticed that the other trainer in the store, a boy younger than herself with short spiked hair, brown eyes, and wearing a baggy blue t-shirt and black pants, was watching her out of the corner of his eye the entire time he was shopping. This made Celeste feel a little bit uncomfortable, so she tried to stay as far away and hidden from the trainer as possible. It made her shopping extremely difficult and prolonged despite the size of the store since the boy didn't seem to want to leave. But finally, after about half an hour, the boy checked out and left the store. Breathing a sigh of relief, Celeste grabbed the last of her necessary items and checked out herself, taking the time to pack her bag inside the store to give the boy time to move a distance away. After getting all the potions and heals situated in the new backpack, Celeste set out again with Alpestreon's pokeball in her hand, ready to try Viridian Forest again.   
  
She pushed the doors open and made sure she held it so Eon could trot through the doorway. As she walked down the hard dirt path from the store to the main road, a voice from the shadows stopped her dead in her tracks.   
  
"Hey, I noticed you in that store. That's an awful nice Eevee you got there."   
  
Celeste turned around, a pretty good idea of who had spoken already formed in her head. Sure enough, the boy from inside was leaning against the store's brick wall, as nonchalant as could be. Celeste sighed as the boy began walking towards her.   
  
"Yea, I'm trying to train it to fight, I've had it for several years, but I just had been keeping it as a pet. Now I'm starting to train."   
  
"So you ARE a trainer. What's your name?" The boy said, very smoothly and with a practiced flair.   
  
"Celeste. Yours?" Celeste had a pretty good idea where this was going, and she really didn't like it.   
  
"I'm Yotari. How long have you been training?"   
  
"Just a couple of days. Haven't been doing so hot."   
  
"But you've been around Pokemon for years?"   
  
"Yea, more or less. My parents were breeders."   
  
Yotari's eyes lit up, but he kept on the poker face he had been wearing. He stopped five feet in front of her and pulled out his pokedex, punching in a few numbers. Celeste was taken aback by this, not sure what he was doing. She continued the conversation after he had been quiet for several minutes.   
  
"So... um, how long have you been training?"   
  
"Not long. Lemme finish these calculations... Ok, there." Yotari was very absorbed in what he was doing, and after he finished, a smile lit up his face as he folded up his pokedex and put it in his back pocket. "So, now that we know each other, do you want to battle? Two on two?"   
  
Celeste flinched, although this is exactly where she figured the boy's advances were going. She really didn't think her pokemon were up to it, especially after the slaughter in the forest.   
  
"I really don't think that's a good idea now, my pokemon aren't very strong and we all just recovered from a massive defeat," She held up her still bandaged arms, not seeing how the boy had failed to notice the numerous bandages that still covered her visible frame. "So, I'd hate to do it, but I really can't accept the challenge right now."   
  
The boy pressed on, obviously very familiar with rejection.   
  
"Come on, it'll be fun. I'm not very strong either, it's a fair match. You've got nothing to lose."   
  
Celeste faltered for a minute. A trainer battle might go smoother than the forest battles, especially if the trained pokemon were any different than the Pokemon in Viridian forest. Her mind wavered between the images of bringing her pokemon glory and the defeats both Eon and Alpestreon had suffered in the forest not long ago. After taking into account the full supply of potions in her bag, she decided it was just the next logical step in the training process.   
  
"Ok, I accept." She said, a note of coolness in her voice similar to the boy's. "Two on two, no strong pokemon, only beginners. Meet in the forest in 10 minutes?" Celeste held out her hand to shake, looking directly into the boy's brown eyes.   
  
"Agreed." The boy took her hand in a firm shake. "The clearing just inside the entrance to the forest. 10 minutes." He let go of the handshake, turned around, and walked down the firm dirt path that led to the street without another word.   
  
Celeste watched him go, a puzzled look on her face. She wondered why the boy had smoothtalked a girl much older than himself simply to ask for a battle. She shook her head to rid herself of the thought, then bent down to pick up Eon. She cuddled the pokemon close to her face and spoke to it as it made a soft purring sound.   
  
"You ready for another battle?"   
  
The pokemon squeaked energetically, then jumped out of her arms and ran off in the direction of Viridian forest. Celeste shrugged her shoulders and followed suit, figuring she should probably locate the battle site anyway since she had no idea where it was at. After a few minutes of jogging after the overexcited Eevee, the two reached the edge of Viridian forest, and within another couple minutes located the clearing that was intended for the battle. To kill the rest of her time, Celeste made Eon practice its tackle, sand attack, and scratch. After the 10 minutes had passed, Celeste stopped the practice and waited quietly in the shade of the trees for the boy to show up. Sure enough, before long, Yotari came through the trees into the clearing and stopped about 5 feet in front of Celeste, giving her a measured stare.   
  
"Are you ready to battle?" Yotari said in a cool tone, his hand moving down to one of the Pokeball he had clamped around his waist.   
  
"Indeed I am." Celeste said, narrowing her eyes in an equally icy tone, Eon at her feet with its fur bristling.   
  
Yotari looked across at the girl he was battling. She had long bangs in the front that appeared to be a natural violet color. The bangs fell about halfway down her torso. In the back, the hair had been cut off short and jagged about halfway down her neck, and this hair was black. She was wearing a buttondown lavender shirt with gold buttons that fell over denim pants that were cutoff halfway up her calf. She was wearing brown sandals which had gold buckles on them. She wore several golden bangle bracelets on her arms, which were now posed on her hips, and her ears had been pierced six times each, the top three bearing gold studs and the bottom three bearing gold rings, all six on each side were connected with a delicate gold chain. She wore a gold necklace around her neck that had a glass orb with what appeared to be a chunk of Moon stone in it, but Yotari had never seen it before, so he couldn't be sure. Her stature was very short, only about 4'8", and she had a very round face with violet eyes. She wore bright red lipstick and heavy grey eyeshadow. Her features were currently set into a look of challenge. Yotari hadn't asked her age, but he assumed she was 10 or 11, same as himself. He grabbed a pokemon from his belt, initiating the challenge and thinking this would be one of the easiest wins in his short training career.   
  
"Let's start. Charmander, go!" The boy threw his pokeball and threw it, a red beam forming the fire pokemon when it hit the ground. It let out a cheerful call and stood ready to battle.   
  
"Ok Eon, you can do this, just like we practiced! Tackle it now!" Celeste called, a panic welling up inside her. She wasn't sure if Eevee was ready to take on a fire Pokemon yet.   
  
With amazing speed, Eon dashed across the clearing and knocked the bewildered Charmander down. Celeste cheered happily as Eon backed up to its side of the ring and waited for the Charmander to recover. Yotari's eyes flashed as he thought this might be harder than he had anticipated.   
  
"Charmander, that Eevee's nothing. Scratch attack, then ember!" Yotari shouted, an edge creeping into his voice as he let his annoyance with the first attack show.   
  
The Charmander leaped up and came back down, scratching Eon hard with its claws across its face and chest. Eon cried out and reeled back in pain. Lucky for it, Charmander had set the ember attack right where Eon had been standing.   
  
"Eon, shake it off and try a sand attack!" Celeste yelled, hoping to blind the Charmander before anything else happened to Eon.   
  
Eon obliged, turning around and kicking sand in the face of the Charmander. The Charmander gave an annoyed squeal and began brushing itself off and wiping sand from its eyes.   
  
"Charmander, try another scratch attack!" Yotari yelled, clearly beginning to panic.   
  
The Charmander began swiping the air in the general direction of the Eevee, but Eon easily avoided its advances since the Pokemon was still blinded by the sand.   
  
"Eon, good work, tackle it again!" Celeste yelled, getting excited about her chances of success at finally winning a Pokemon match.   
  
Eon reared back and tackled the Charmander yet again, knocking it down on the ground. The Charmander had become visibly angry, and began scratching Eon, the sand finally cleared from its eyes.   
  
"Eon, try one more tackle before he defeats you!" Celeste yelled, becoming fearful as her chances of winning slipped away every time Eon was scratched.   
  
Unfortunately, Eon didn't get the pleasure. A bright glow consumed the Charmander and Celeste could only watch helplessly as it evolved into Charmeleon. Yotari cheered and took control of his Pokemon again.   
  
"Charmeleon, you've almost got this Eevee beat! Give it a flamethrower attack to finish it off!"   
  
Celeste was horrified. She was so close to winning... Eon only had a little health left, and she was pretty sure the Charmeleon only had a bit left too, but it was so angry that it was hard to tell if it had gained any energy in the evolution or not. She gave the battle one last valiant try.   
  
"Eon, bite it as hard as you can, you've almost got it finished!"   
  
Charmeleon towered about three feet over the head of Eon now. It began warming itself for a flamethrower attack, but Eon didn't give it the chance. So strong was its will to win, it jumped up and clamped its jaws on the shoulder of the Pokemon, not letting go. Charmeleon cried out and pain and began to thrash wildly around, trying to unlatch the Eevee from its body. Since its power had already been taxed earlier in the battle, it passed out before it had a chance to remove Eon.  
  
Yotari bowed his head and gracefully recalled his Charmeleon. That had been the purpose of the battle anyway, to evolve that Pokemon. He hadn't expected any of Celeste's pokemon to be able to defeat a Charmeleon, but now that it had happened, it was no holds barred.   
  
Celeste cheered wildly as the badly battered Eevee jumped into her arms, both wildly excited. Yotari watched the two celebrate.   
  
"I must ask, how did you come by an Eevee in the first place? They're extremely rare, it's said that only a few are alive in the world today. Usually only advanced collectors and trainers keep them, and even then only as pets or showpieces." Yotari asked, curious as to where he could get ahold of an Eevee himself.   
  
"Oh, my parents bred them. It's true there aren't very many alive today. Even as breeders, my parents only had a few. Luckily, when the lab burned down, their prototypes were saved. There are 17 Eevees and evolutions in the World today excluding mine. The technology to breed them was lost when the lab burned down along with many, many Eevees, so this is the highest number of Eevees there ever will be, and this number will only fall as they die out." Celeste answered evenly, wondering why the boy was stalling before going into the next battle. She wanted him to make the first move.   
  
"So you're saying Eevees will go extinct soon, like Kabuto? That I can believe, since this is the first time I've ever seen one. However, I don't believe that your parents bred them seeing as how there are so few. I also refuse to believe that a significant slice of the Eevee population burned up in a lab. How many perished, would you say?" Yotari asked in a mocking tone.   
  
"Well, actually they had around 40 Eevees running around the lab. They were just making progress on how to go from the Eevee DNA to iron DNA for an Iron type Eevee, close on the heels of their release of the Dark and Psychic type evolution last year. That took them FOREVER to figure out, they didn't think Eevees had a natural evolution. Of course, since they take care of theirs and train the lab species hard, they stumbled across it. No other Eevees had really been trained since they were so rare. However, before they could entirely descramble Ferreon's evolution codes, the building caught fire. All 40 lab Eevees perished, along with my parents."   
  
Yotari didn't know what to say. He knew that the new Dark and Psychic evolutions had just been announced last year, but it hadn't occurred to him that the process was descrambled by breeders, and most likely Eevee breeders. He also felt kind of bad for Celeste's parents. He decided instead of humbling himself however, he would just move on in battle.   
  
"Whatever you say, little girl. Let's just continue. Let's see... think I'll try a native species. Beedrill, go and show that Eevee who's boss with a twinneedle attack!"   
  
A red beam formed the shape of a formidable looking Beedrill. Before Celeste had time to even call out an attack, the Beedrill had KO'd Eon. Celeste walked into the arena and gathered her Pokemon in her arms, dousing it with her potions and other formulas to bring it back. After she was satisfied that it was in much better health, she pondered the Bug-type. She really didn't want to start training Obsideon just yet, so she decided to continue on with Alpestreon since a battle between bug and grass could go either way. She drew its Pokeball from her backpack and threw it, yelling the traditional trainer battle call.   
  
"Alpestreon, I choose you! Vine whip, I know you can do it this time!" Celeste encouraged the large plant Pokemon.   
  
Alpestreon materialized and executed a vine whip. Its vines were thrashing madly at the Beedrill, but it was easily avoiding the leafy appendages. Yotari gawked in amazement at this new Pokemon.   
  
"What's that?!"   
  
"Alpestreon, the grass evolution of Eevee. One of my parent's prototypes they kept in storage just in case of emergency. It wasn't burned up."   
  
"How's come they never released it to the public if a grass evolution exists?"   
  
"They have an evolution to every Pokemon in prototype form, even the ones they didn't discover. For the ones that they were working on, they'd take a prototype Eevee and splice its DNA with that of plant, rock, or any other kind of Pokemon to see the results. That was the easy part, even though they were the only ones that knew how. The real challenge for them lied in trying to figure out a natural transition from Eevee to the spliced pokemon. They were successful twice, and nearly a third time. This was one of the ones they never got to." Celeste said, impatiently watching her Pokemon swipe hopelessly at the Beedrill.   
  
"S...so what you're saying is you have an Eevee in every single type? May I see them?" He asked, his voice shaking a little in excitement.   
  
"Yes, I have an Eevee of every type, that's the only kind of Pokemon I train. No, you can't see them unless you force me into a situation where I need to use them, which you won't do seeing as how this is our last battle and I don't plan on seeing you again. The last thing I need is every single trainer I come across drooling over my Pokemon." Celeste snapped, growing increasingly more angry as her Pokemon continued to struggle in battle, the Beedrill on defense and waiting for its owner to shout out an attack.   
  
"But I swear..."   
  
"Alpestreon, use stun spore!" Celeste called harshly, trying to get Yotari's mind back on track.   
  
The Alpestreon fired spores at the Beedrill, but it simply used its wings to fan them back onto Alpestreon, immobilizing it in Paraylsis for the second time in its short battle career. Yotari just watched with a smug look on his face.   
  
"I wouldn't be so eager to continue this match if I were you. See what happens when you rush things? Beedrill, finish it off with a Poision Sting!" Yotari called, anticipaing his inevitable victory.   
  
Celeste watched helplessly as the Beedrill stung Alpestreon mercilessly. The poison circulated through its struggling, immobilized body, and in no time at all the Pokemon was KO'd and the match fell in favor of Yotari. She ran to the aid of Alpestreon and sprayed it with the same generous amounts of cures that she had lavished on Eon, now possessing enough medicine to run her own Pokecenter. She looked angrily up at Yotari, who was watching her nurse her Pokemon with glee.   
  
"Didn't you have a Pokemon I KO'd? You know they'll like you a lot less if you don't attend to their wounds immediately." Celeste advised, growing to dislike the persistent, creepy youth.   
  
"Oh, Charmeleon will keep inside his pokeball, and I've got other Pokemon to train before I go back to the Pokecenter. Now, since I won the match, can I see all the Eevees you have?" He asked, bending down to stroke the soft petals in Alpestreon's mane.   
  
Alpestreon turned its head and lunged for his hand. Its jaws clamped on empty air as Yotari drew his hand back in annoyance. Celeste smiled cruelly at him and spoke.   
  
"I don't think they like you. I'm pretty sure they want you to leave. They might make you leave if you don't do it voluntairly."   
  
"Ooh, a threat. We already learned your Pokemon are as weak as the day they were genetically created in a test tube. How are they going to MAKE me leave? It's awfully big, but judging by how easily I won against it, I'd say your pokemon are all bark and no bite. Besides, you owe me money for losing to me." He began to dance around and openly mock Celeste. She became very angry and pulled another Pokeball from her backpack.   
  
"I won't give any money to someone as horrible as you are! Also, not all of my Pokemon are 4 feet tall and weak. Some of them are even bigger and stronger. I'll let you see one more before you leave." She said cooly and with a hint of sarcasm as she threw her Pokeball.   
  
Zephyreon formed on the ground in all of its seven feet of glory. It looked down at Yotari and began growling at him, sensing its master's displeasure. Yotari took the Pokemon in for a moment, then bowed respectfully to Celeste and without another word made his way from the clearing at a walk.   
  
"Odd." Celeste said as she made a face in his general direction and drew Zephyreon back into its ball. Her first trainer battle hadn't gone so well, and the trainer himself had been quite an odd duck. She pondered him for a minute, then shrugged it off and attended to her battle-worn pokemon.   
  
Celeste fully healed both of her Pokemon and praised them for their prowress and bravery in battle. They rested in the clearing for a little bit, Celeste chattering away about the big plans she had for them concerning entering the Pokemon Indigo league championships. 


	8. Progress

Story 8 - Progress. (5-28-02)   
  
Celeste was wandering through the forest with Eon in her arms, hoping to stumble across some random Pokemon for her small Eevee to challenge. The win over the Charmeleon in the trainer battle had definitely boosted her confidence, and she thought all they needed to do was try a little harder in the battles and they would be successful.   
  
"Eon, I say let's win some battles against these wild Pokemon, then I'll switch to Alpestreon and let it get some wins, then we'll take on Brock. Even if you're not strong enough to battle him, the type advantage Alpestreon has over him should equal the playing field, and plus you guys should be pumped and excited to battle after all the winning we're about to do!" Celeste exclaimed excitedly.   
  
"Vii!" Eon squeaked and wiggled in her arms, aggreeing with her.   
  
Celeste smiled down to her Eevee, then stopped dead in her tracks. She silenced Eon and listened carefully. In the nearby bushes, she heard some rustling movements. She looked down at Eon, who was looking up at her, and she nodded her head and set it down on the ground. It scampered off into the bushes, jumping deep into the heart of the rustling. After a few minutes of struggle, Celeste heard some loud, annoyed squaking and saw a Pidgeotto fly out of the bushes lazily, but obvously rustled out of its home.   
  
Celeste slapped her palm to her forehead and ran into the bushes, knowing what she'd find. She parted the foilage to find Eon passed out in the shadows. It appeared as if it had only been hit once and knocked out, because there were no visible scratches or signs of struggle anywhere else on its body. She got out some of her cures and sprayed them on it, reviving it. She then extracted it from the bushes and continued her walk.   
  
"Well, at least we know not to try that ever again, don't we? Always look before you leap, I guess." Celeste said, a little angry at herself for sending her pokemon off into the unknown.   
  
Eon squirmed in her arms until Celeste set it down on the ground, a little perplexed.   
  
"What, you want to do some scouting by yourself?"   
  
"Vii!" It looked back over its shoulder at her and ran off into the underbrush.   
  
Celeste sighed and sat down, putting her head in one hand and opening her pack with the other.   
  
"They just never learn. At this rate, we'll be training forever before Eon gains enough experience to battle Brock. Not to mention Alpestreon, who hasn't won YET... better get it out so it can watch battles before having some of its own..." She reached past the potions in her bag and pulled out Alpestreon's pokeball and threw it on the ground in front of her. The characteristic red light appeared and the Pokemon materialized, ready for battle.   
  
"Nothing yet, Alpestreon. I just want you to watch until it's your turn, OK? Right now we're looking for agitated pokemon leaving the forest so we can locate the prone form of Eon."   
  
Alpestreon, understanding, laid down on the ground in front of Celeste, both waiting patiently for several minutes until Eon came trotting out of the forest holding something in its mouth. Celeste got excited for a moment, amazed at the fact that it had won a battle without her assistance, but then she realized that the pokemon was still conscious, and that the pokemon happened to be a Metapod. Celeste groaned.   
  
"Honestly Eon, have you no shame?" She muttered as she got up and reached to take the Metapod out of its mouth, knowing full well that what it wanted to do was wrong. Eon whimpered and recoiled from her hands, trotting over to a large open area and setting the Metapod down, then walking an appropriate battle distance away from it.   
  
"Ok, ok, I guess it's a good way to gain some strength. We're only doing a couple of these though, because I think this is very, VERY wrong, you understand?"   
  
Eon gave a solemn whimper as it faced the Metapod and prepared itself for battle.   
  
"Honestly, attacking a poor defenseless pokemon... but I guess desperate times call for desperate measures. Eon, tackle attack..." Celeste said wearily.   
  
The one sided battle went on for several minutes, Eon tackling it and it hardening in turn. Finally, Celeste gave the call for a bite, successfully ending the battle in Eon's favor. Feeling rather guilty about the creature, Celeste treated its wounds and set it in the branches of a nearby tree, streching up on tiptoe to reach.   
  
"Now that you've had your win, go and find a REAL challenge, if wandering around in the brush is what you want to do." Celeste said, taking her seat beside the bored Alpestreon.   
  
Eon gave a merry squeak and ran off into the underbrush again, Celeste's gaze following it as she shook her head.   
  
Eon came out a few minutes later with a Kakuna in its mouth.   
  
"NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Celeste said, getting angry with Eon. "I told you to find a real challenge, not something that can't defend itself against your attacks!"   
  
Eon just looked up at her and whimpered. Celeste sighed and calmed down. "Ok, but this is the LAST ONE. If you bring back any more, I'm going to put them in the trees, do you understand?"   
  
Eon squealed happily and set up the battle. Celeste took her place behind it and called out attack phrases. The Kakuna was down with two tackles and a bite. Celeste was pleased and hoped that the battles with the defenseless pokemon was at least helping raise Eon's level. After it had been knocked unconscious, Celeste took it in her arms and healed it as she had done the Metapod. However, after she had finished with the Kakuna, it started glowing in her arms. The shell split, and out flew a Beedrill.   
  
Startled, Celeste let out a shriek, dropped the shell and Beedrill, and took a couple cautious steps back. Once she had realized what had happened, she got a smug look on her face and turned to Eon.   
  
"Well, you defeated it once, I think it's time you do it again, what do you say, Eon?"   
  
Eon whimpered weakly, but when it saw Celeste planned on making it pay for preying on the weak, it took a battle position in front of the agitated Beedrill.   
  
"Yea, that's what I thought. Do a sand attack to disorient it! These are strong, but I think you can do it, Eon!" Celeste yelled, having confidence in her poor Eevee.   
  
Eon's worry immediately melted away as it entered the heat of battle. The fur on it's back bristled as the Beedrill started to take flight. Before it could get itself entirely airborne, Eon turned around and kicked dust in its eyes with its back paws, looking over its shoulder as it did so. The Beedrill's flight patterns became sporadic and close to the ground as it tried to clear its vision by letting the wind blow the dust away.   
  
"Excellent Eon! That was wonderful! Now tackle it and see about getting it on the ground!" Celeste was excited, the sand attack had worked wonderfully.   
  
While the Beedrill was still flying around disoriented, Eon waited until it made a loop close to the ground, then jumped up and knocked it out of the air. The moment its paws touched the ground, it only had time to look back at Celeste before she yelled out the next attack.   
  
"Quickly, while its still on the ground! Bite it until it's done!" She yelled out, in a state of pure bliss at the sure win coming their way.   
  
It jumped quickly on top of the Beedrill as it started to pick itself up and beat its wings to take off again. Eon began biting it savagely all over while the Beedrill thrashed madly with all three of its stingers. Eon took a couple hits from its arm stingers, and even one from its poisonous rear stinger, but it was in a near trance while it bit, knowing if it continued, it would be a sure victory. After only a few minutes of thrashing, the Beedrill went limp as Eon's victory was secured.   
  
Celeste and Alpestreon bolted over to the small animal, who was sitting winded and a little woozy from the poison working its way through the small body. Celeste hugged Eon tight to her chest and smothered it with kisses, then set it on the ground and lavished it with medical attention, not saying a word in the meantime. After its wounds had been seen to, Celeste picked it up again and held it in a single tight embrace.   
  
"I'm so proud of you, Eon. Just keep doing that for me, at least a few more times out here today. Think of how far we'll go! All of us, together as one big happy family..." Celeste was so overwhelmed by the victory, tears escaped her eyes and she was oblivious to the stranger watching her from the shadows in the path up ahead.   
  
"That's some Eevee you've got there. I've never seen one of those before, let alone in battle. Some swift work, if I do say so myself." The stranger, a female, said as she stepped into Celeste's line of vision.   
  
"Thank you very much, we haven't been training very long. The victories make me so happy, even though there haven't been many." Celeste said, smiling at the kind words.   
  
The stranger walked right up to Celeste before stopping to pet Alpestreon's soft coat. "This one sure is strange, I've never seen anything like it before." She said, smiling as she scratched Alpestreon under the chin.   
  
"Oh, it's one of a kind. A plant evolution of Eevee that my parents raised." Celeste said, setting Eon back on the ground and turning to talk to the girl.   
  
"You sure do like the rare ones, ma'am," The stranger said, bending back up to talk to Celeste. Celeste wondered about the "ma'am," the girl appeared to be a few years older than herself. She shrugged it off.   
  
"Yea, I like 'em, all right. Not too easy to train, though. But it is very rewarding, and I love them like I would my family." Celeste said, smiling down at Alpestreon.   
  
"That's key, all pokemon trainers should. By the way, my name's Belinda. I would be much obliged if you would favor me with a pokemon match between my two pokemon and your two rare beauties here. Win or lose, it sure would give me something to talk about." The woman took off her hat and bowed slightly to Celeste. She had clear blue eyes trimmed with some messy bangs, brown hair set off in two stiff pigtails that ended at her waist. She wore a red jacket and a white skirt, with red boots that reached her knees. She wore a green backpack and had green hairties in her hair.   
  
Celeste pondered a moment how good she felt after the win. The girl was very kind, much more so than Yotari had been. However, she thought that her pokemon still had a long way to go, and figured it best if she kept off the trainer matches for awhile, even though she felt sorry for disappointing this girl.   
  
"No, I'm sorry, I'd better not. They still need a whole lotta training, and I'd feel better saving mine and their pride until they're better prepared, because at this point I think we'd almost certainly lose." Celeste said with a hint of regret in her voice.   
  
The girl stood with her hat on her hands. After staring at Eon for a few seconds, she put it back on her head and made another low bow to Celeste. "I understand, I guess that's how we all start out. Well, thanks anyway for your time, I hope our paths cross in the future!" Belinda called brightly as she continued on the path and into the forest.   
  
Eon jumped back into Celeste's arms as she stared after her. "You know, I feel real sorry for turning her down, she seemed very nice, you know that?" She said, the tone of regret still eminent in her voice.   
  
Eon nuzzled her face, then jumped back out of her arms and ran back into the bushes. Celeste shook herself from her musings to call after it as she took a seat.   
  
"No more defenseless creatures! You just took down a Beedrill, drag up something sensible!"   
  
Eon didn't bring back any more Kakuna or Metapods, but instead found a wide array of forest creatures. At first it ran out with a Rattata in persuit, but after a valiant effort Eon was sadly defeated. After some thorough healing, it came back again with a Caterpie, and this time Eon came out on top. This caused it to battle two more Caterpie, beating both. The last one was a near thing though, and since she hadn't healed it after the battle with the first two since it had taken minimal hits, Celeste had to cure it yet again. It went downhill from there, however. After getting mountains of praise after each of its three successful victories, Celeste could only watch in horror as Eon was defeated by five Weedle, two Butterfree, a Rattata, and a Pidgey. After the final Weedle crawled off successfully and Celeste lavished cures on her poor Pokemon, she decided it best to let Alpestreon train for awhile.   
  
"Well, ignoring the losses, you had five victories, Eon! That's so wonderful, especially given your previous record. We'll try some more later, but for now let's see if Alpestreon can win any battles, OK?" Celeste gave Eon a big smile as she cradled the small pokemon in her arms. She turned to Alpestreon as she said "You up for it?"   
  
Alpestreon licked Celeste's hand, then turned and ran into the bush to find its own battles.   
  
As Celeste walked along the path with Eon in her arms, Alpestreon came running out of the bushes hot on the heels of a Pidgey. Celeste groaned. After Eon's parade of losses, Celeste could've stood watching it beat up on a couple defenseless Metapod to build up its strength. She took her position behind Alpestreon, still with Eon in her arms, and started calling out attacks.   
  
"Ok Alpestreon, get it with your vine whip and hold it!" Celeste said, hoping her strategy was improving along with her pokemon's strength.   
  
Alpestreon wasted no time executing the attack. It jumped in front of the Pidgey and grabbed it with vines that appeared from its thick, petal-filled mane. It held it with some while it smacked it with others. The Pidgey freed itself after a few minutes, but not without taking a thrashing. Squaking angrily, it flapped its wings and executed a sand attack. Alpestreon hid its eyes from most of it, but did get blinded by some particles. Instead of wiping its eyes, it simply waited for its next attack.   
  
"Great job, Alpestreon! Try a restrict now! You're doing so great!" Celeste cheered, hoping honestly her encouragement helped even just a little bit.   
  
Alpestreon grabbed the Pidgey with its vines again and started to squeeze. The Pidgey flapped its wings, but couldn't free itself for several minutes. When it did, it sent up a furious gust attack. When it cleared, Alpestreon struggled to get back up on its feet. When it finally made it, its vines shot out once again and grabbed the Pidgey, without any command from Celeste. With sand in its eyes and wobbling slightly from the weakness sustained from the gust, Alpestreon squeezed the Pidgey until it fell limp. It gave a satisfied call, then collapsed on the ground. Celeste came running over, potion in hand. She spent a few minutes with revives and potions before Alpestreon finally sat up and acted cheerful.   
  
"That was so wonderful! You defeated a Pidgey on your first try! You didn't have to go after something so difficult, you could've brought out a Metapod or Kakuna to build up your strength like Eon did, I wouldn't have been mad. Oh, I'm just so happy you had a victory! Maybe your size helps a little with your power? That certainly would be good, wouldn't it? Well, let's continue on, we can't stop while you're on a streak, now can we?" Celeste chirped as she hugged Alpestreon around its big neck. She only needed to bend over to do this, Alpestreon was quite a large pokemon.   
  
She ended the embrace, and Alpestreon took a position next to her as they continued down the path, Alpestreon darting in and out of the bushes looking for prey from time to time. It had one battle with a Metapod, which it won with only one constrict attack. That pleased Celeste to no end. However, while she watched Alpestreon wander through the forest underbrush, she almost ran smack into another trainer.   
  
The trainer looked very young, probably 10 years old and about a head shorter than Celeste, he had bown hair cut in a bowl style. He had cruel blue eyes, and wore a yellow shirt, long denim shorts, and red tennis shoes. He also carried a brown pouch that looked for all the world like a purse. He was none too pleased.   
  
"How rude of you, not to watch where you're going! I demand a 1-on-1 challenge with you!" The boy yelled in a shrill voice as he took a couple steps back, dropped his bag to the ground, and began to rummage.   
  
Celeste watched the small boy with a certain note of amusement. "Sorry kid, I'm not battling trainers at the moment, I don't think my Pokemon are strong enough. Maybe some other time." She said as she began to walk around him, Alpestreon coming out of the bushes and staring pointedly at the small boy.   
  
"Hey, you're not allowed to walk away from a trainer challenge, it's an honor that can't be broken! Besides, YOU especially can't walk away because you ran into me!" The boy continued shrilly as he recovered two balls from his bag and stood up, Celeste's back now to him.   
  
Celeste sighed and adressed the boy with a look over her shoulder as she continued to walk, Alpestreon walking backwards to stare at the boy beside her. "For one, I don't remember signing anything that said I wasn't allowed to turn down trainer battles, and for another, I never touched you, kid. See ya."   
  
"Hey, DON'T WALK AWAY FROM ME! You have to battle! I want to fight your Tangela and Sandshrew!" The boy said, jumping directly in her path ahead and extending his arms so she couldn't pass.   
  
Celeste's amusement at the agitated child had long abated, and it was being replaced with agitation of her own. "I told you NO kid, and that's final! Besides, I wouldn't battle a poor kid who doesn't even know what type of Pokemon he's going up against, let alone how to count, since you challenged me to ONE-ON-ONE." She muttered loudly as she roughly pushed the boy out of the way and continued on, Alpestreon also losing interest in him and facing forward.   
  
The boy was now very furious. He once again darted in front of Celeste and put his hand straight out in front of him to stop her. "Lady, don't insult my intelligence, and don't turn down trainer battles from Petey! You'll live to regret it!" He said, thick anger very evident in his voice.   
  
Celeste put her own hand out and pushed him hard to the ground. "Listen kid, if you don't get out of my way and leave me alone RIGHT NOW, you'll be the one that lives to regret it. Zephyreon, COME ON OUT!" Yelling now, she reached her hand behind her in her pack and retrieved her tallest, most imposing pokemon.   
  
Zephyreon materialized and, once again, sensed Celeste's displeasure at this trainer and began to growl menacingly down at the boy and show its large, sharp teeth.   
  
The boy, looking as if he would soil himself, got off the ground in a hurry, grabbed his bag, and ran quickly off into the woods. Celeste took a few minutes to calm down, an edge of anger still in her voice.   
  
"Geez, I could never have taught children like that. He would have found himself outside my classroom so fast... But all that's behind me now. I must focus on the task ahead, and eventually on Indigo, isn't that right gang? Zephyreon, I'm very sorry about calling you out to scare people. I know Ferreon or others might do a better job, but you're the biggest, and people would just be afraid of your size when you come out growling." Celeste gave Zephyreon a big hug as high as she could reach before putting it back in its pokeball and resuming the routine of watching Alpestreon dart in and out of the foilage with new challenges.   
  
Eon had slept through the entire ordeal in Celeste's arms, and after fluttering its eyes open and giving a big yawn as it watched the boy run off, it went back to sleep.   
  
It was a horrible thing to watch, because outside the earlier victories over Metapod and Pidgey, Alpestreon's record was considerably worse than Eon's had been. It battled 7 various forest animals, and lost to all but a Caterpie. Even the Metapod it brought out of the forest trounced it. There was a particularly ugly loss to a Pikachu, who Alpestreon accidentally stirred out of its nest. Although it grounded some of the electricity and fared much better than Eon would have, it still ended up fried on the ground as Pikachu wandered back into the forest with only slight bruises where Alpestreon had managed to get in a good squeeze. After the Pikachu, the last fight, Celeste realized she was out of cure, and could only allieviate Alpestreon's suffering slightly as she put it back in its pokeball and walked dejectedly out of the forest. While she had won several matches, she had also lost an overwhelming amount more. Perhaps they were a little stronger. Perhaps they were a little better off.   
  
Celeste supposed that's all one could hope for amidst loss. 


End file.
